Hope things are going well!
This last week was good!
We were very busy trying to find time to do everything we had to do. There have been miracles everywhere lately!
Tuesday we had a lesson planned with the Halkar family. They are preparing to be baptized on June 27th (Please Pray for them). The lesson was suppose to be at 6pm at the church building. They did not show up...yet. So Elder Sincere and I saw a man outside walking around and we did the missionary thing, we chased him down and talked to him. He was not interested at first because he lost his keys so he was walking around looking for them. We decided to walk a couple of blocks with him. We discussed his life and his beliefs. At first he was closed off but as we talked to him, he opened up and asked where he could find true happiness. So we set up a lesson with him the next day. At the same time, the Halkars showed up and we invited two other people off the street to join us in the lesson and they did! It was awesome!
The rest of the week was good. We met a lot of people and had interesting talks.
On Friday we ran into a man named Mike. The first thing Mike told us was we did not have to waste our time talking to him. But we told him" You know what Mike, we do have to tell you. This is the most important thing that you can ever hear in your life." He opened up a little after that but it reminded me of this talk by President Hinckley. (Elder Anderson also talks about it.)
I'll talk, as my subject today, about something President Hinckley said in General Conference in April of 1973.
I had just returned home from my mission. So much seemed ahead of me. Would I be able to consistently make the right choices throughout my life?
Then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley spoke of meeting a young naval officer from Asia. The officer was not a Christian, but during training in the United States, he learned about the Church and was baptized. He was then preparing to return to his native land.
President Hinckley asked the officer: “Your people are not Christians, what will happen when you return home as a Christian, and more particularly, a Mormon Christian?”
The officer’s face clouded, and he replied: “My family will be disappointed. … As for my future and my career, all opportunity may be foreclosed against me.”
President Hinckley asked, “Are you willing to pay so great a price for the gospel?”
With his dark eyes moistened by tears, he answered with a question: “It’s true, isn't it?”
President Hinckley responded, “Yes, it is true.”
To which the officer replied, “Then what else matters?”
Faith is not only a feeling; it is a decision. With prayer, study, obedience, and covenants, we build and fortify our faith. Our conviction of the Savior and His latter-day work becomes the powerful lens through which we judge all else. Then, as we find ourselves in the crucible of life, as Elder Oaks explained, we have the strength to take the right course.
President Hinckley said it this way: “When [an individual] is motivated by great and powerful convictions of truth, then he disciplines himself, not because of demands made by the Church but because of the knowledge within his heart.”
I had just returned home from my mission. So much seemed ahead of me. Would I be able to consistently make the right choices throughout my life?
Then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley spoke of meeting a young naval officer from Asia. The officer was not a Christian, but during training in the United States, he learned about the Church and was baptized. He was then preparing to return to his native land.
President Hinckley asked the officer: “Your people are not Christians, what will happen when you return home as a Christian, and more particularly, a Mormon Christian?”
The officer’s face clouded, and he replied: “My family will be disappointed. … As for my future and my career, all opportunity may be foreclosed against me.”
President Hinckley asked, “Are you willing to pay so great a price for the gospel?”
With his dark eyes moistened by tears, he answered with a question: “It’s true, isn't it?”
President Hinckley responded, “Yes, it is true.”
To which the officer replied, “Then what else matters?”
Faith is not only a feeling; it is a decision. With prayer, study, obedience, and covenants, we build and fortify our faith. Our conviction of the Savior and His latter-day work becomes the powerful lens through which we judge all else. Then, as we find ourselves in the crucible of life, as Elder Oaks explained, we have the strength to take the right course.
President Hinckley said it this way: “When [an individual] is motivated by great and powerful convictions of truth, then he disciplines himself, not because of demands made by the Church but because of the knowledge within his heart.”
I hope you are all doing well.
The Book of Mormon is the word of God.
And God does have a plan for each of us!
Love,
Elder Rush
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